Reversal of Fortune
by Lady Jekyll
Summary: Bruce and Tony build a time machine. When certain revisited events take a turn for the worse, life takes a different, possibly permanent direction. Non-slash Science Bros
1. Fun with SpaceTime Continuum

Reversal of Fortune

Ch. 1: Fun With Space-Time Continuum

* * *

"I can't believe I'm skeptical that this'll work," said Tony Stark, tightening a bolt on a piece of metal paneling.

"After everything you've built," chuckled Bruce Banner with a smile, "you shouldn't be. And anyway, it's about _time_ someone invented one of these."

Tony rolled his eyes as he straightened up, rubbing a sudden kink out of his lower back.

"Where do you get your puns, Brucey? The 'Other Guy' throw that one at you?"

Bruce didn't reply as he began typing furiously at a computer set up near the large metal container. After a few minutes, Banner spoke.

"Where should we go?" he asked in an excited tone of voice. Tony took a quick look at the doctor's eyes, making sure the neon green glow hadn't shown up. It hadn't. This was just Bruce Banner being as giddy as a schoolboy.

"Shouldn't it be _when_? This is a time machine after all."

Since the events of the Battle of Manhattan, Tony had given the timid physicist a job in R&D at Stark Tower. The first thing the man came up with is the idea for a time machine. Stark knew he and Banner were going to get along quite well, no matter how the 'Other Guy' intervened.

"Well, yeah. Let's think about it this way: anything you ever wanted to take back? Go back and change if you could?"

The billionaire inventor mulled it over for less than five seconds.

"Nope. Though, there was that one time I got the clap from that Vegas showgirl. _'What stays in Vegas'_ my ass…"

Bruce turned a slight shade of red and cleared his throat.

"Erm-thanks for sharing, but that's not what I meant," he said. "I'm going back and preventing the 'Other Guy' from ever showing up."

Tony took a step back at seeing the bright green tinge to Banner's normally dark eyes. It flickered for a moment before fading. Banner had succeeded in chaining his other side back.

"That's a shame, Doc. If that happens, I guess you'll still be playing Dr. Jekyll at Culver?"

"Are you trying to guilt trip me, Tony?"

"Maybe."

"Look, I'll still be around, I promise. I'll just be more…level-headed."

Tony sighed as he stepped into the metal chamber. The interior was dimly lit, the main light source being a computer console. Bruce stepped in beside Tony and sealed the door shut.

"What date do you want me to type in?" Tony asked, raising his voice against the sound of a magnetic lock clicking into place.

Bruce smiled, his eyes flickering between brown and green.

"January 12th, 2006."


	2. Displacement

Reversal of Fortune

Ch. 2: Displacement

* * *

A/N: I'm going back the comics for Bruce's origin to becoming the Hulk. The Gamma Bomb instead of "failed Super Soldier serum" thing or whatever that was in the 2008 movie. I was inspired to write this whole story after reading the Marvel Cinematic Universe Timeline and have used it in reference for the dates of Bruce and Tony's "accidents".

* * *

**January 12, 2006**

The machine containing the inventor and the physicist lurched suddenly, like an elevator car strung on fraying cables. It shuddered and light from the computer console flickered and went black. Tony groaned, having slammed into the back wall of the machine, the cool blue light from the arc reactor being the only source of light now.

"Bruce? You all right?"

There was no comment from the other man. There was, as Tony came to realize as he scrambled around the chamber in the semi-darkness like a blind man, no one else here with him. He was alone. The only sound aside from Stark's own heavy breathing was the sound of the magnetic lock of the time machine unsealing. Tony flinched at the sudden bright light from the outside world. He stepped out, blinking at the harsh sunlight. Stark couldn't place where he was, some desert area…a military base. Soldiers were shouting at him, screaming at him to get back. It wasn't until he heard the deafening explosion that he realized what had happened. The force of the blast threw him back into the time machine, the numbers on the computer console suddenly all turning to zeros. Tony stumbled backwards, curling up into a ball against the cold metal wall. He felt a spasm of pain tear through his chest and put a hand to his arc reactor. Blue light flickered dangerously and the genius billionaire watched in horror as the arc reactor itself flickered out of existence. He was wholly human again, which caused a sudden wave of horror to wash over him. He may be fully healed, but he was now no longer Iron Man.

The computer console suddenly rebooted, the numbers scrambling rapidly. Tony struggled to his feet and tried to type in a date, but it wouldn't let him. After a moment, the numbers stopped at a date. August 26, 2012.

The time machine lurched and Tony finally allowed himself to fall unconsciousness.

* * *

**May 20, 2009**

_"Hey…take it easy, all right?"_

Bruce Banner stirred, only to feel a set on hands gently press down on his shoulders to keep him still. He wasn't sure what had happened, but the rift in the time-space continuum had sent him into another place. Something was wrong, the mental burden that was the presence of the Other Guy now replaced with a searing pain in his chest. Bruce groaned and turned his head at the direction of a man sitting beside him.

"Who…who are you?"

"My name is Yensin. Relax and lie still, okay?"

_Yensin?_ Bruce vaguely knew that name. Tony had mentioned him once when discussing his…accident. Eyes widening in horror, Bruce looked down at the bandages wrapped around his chest, his hands ripping at them in a panic.

_No, no, no! When I said I wanted to get rid of the Other Guy, I never meant for something like this!_

Yensin tried to stop him, but Bruce had torn away a portion of the bandages to reveal a battery operated electromagnet embedded in his chest. Tony had mentioned it before, in the past—a timeline now no longer real. Bruce was a physicist, not an engineer and now realized that he was in a dangerous situation and didn't have the Other Guy to help him. He was left to his own devices and he was terrified. Banner only hoped that Tony was all right. Of course he was; he was Tony goddamn Stark. Bruce Banner on the other hand…All he knew was that, lack of the Other Guy be damned, he was getting out of here and fixing this whole mess.

But in order to fix everything, he'd have to survive. That was going to be the hard part.


	3. Not What it Used to be

Reversal of Fortune

Ch. 3: Not What it Used to Be

**August 26, 2012**

Tony Stark lay on the cold metal floor of the time machine, knees curled into his chest. He struggled to his feet as the magnetic seal unlocked and the door opened on his own. Unlike before, it was the world was cold, bleak and rainy. Stark caught a glimpse of his reflection in the passenger window of a car. Clothes ruined and tattered, hair a mess and his face peppered with cuts and bruises.

_Wonderful. I go from handsome billionaire to this irradiated mess._

He pulled the tattered remains of his jacket tighter around himself in a fruitless effort to stave off the rain and cold. Stumbling through the street, many passersby gave him looks of indifference, or even pity. After managing to get his bearings, he saw the building that had been Stark Tower in his old life. What surprised him was the name now glittering from the building: _Potts and Banner_.

_Bruce Banner, you son of a bitch._

Tony grimaced at a sudden, intense wave of emotion flooded through him. Confusion, anger, even fear. He tried to ignore the voice howling in his skull, forcing all his energy on making it to the tower. A few guards tried to kick him out and Tony was surprised at the inhuman roar that escaped from his lips, but the man dressed in a yellow button-down shirt and khakis was not.

"It's all right gentlemen," Bruce Banner said, grabbing Tony by the elbow and leading him downstairs to an underground research level. "Welcome back, Tony. I admit I'm surprised you made it."

"Please explain why there is an extremely pissed off voice in my head," Tony snapped, jerking his arm out of Bruce grasp. "What the fuck did you do to me?"

Banner merely flashed him that familiar timid smile at him and shook his head.

"Calm down, Tony. When I said I wanted to get rid of the Other Guy, I intended for you to-"

"Shut up, Bruce."

Stark grabbed Bruce's shirt and ripped it open to reveal the arc reactor glowing from within his chest. The voice in Tony's head grew louder, not liking being ignored. Bruce saw this and took a few steps backward.

"T-Tony…I honestly understand that you're angry about what happened…but believe me when I say it wasn't my intention…"

But Tony was no longer in control now. Bruce recognized that green tint spreading through the former billionaire's skin. Banner sighed and allowed the wires and circuitry to pass over his own body, to which Tony looked at in an annoyed curiosity.

"What the hell-?"

Tony's voice was a combination of his own and the Other Guy's. Bruce winced slightly as the armor clicked into place and whirred to life, only his face visible as the visor had yet to fall into place.

"You really shouldn't talk in your sleep, Tony. That _Extremis_idea you've been muttering about? It works."

Tony howled, his body twisting and morphing before Bruce's eyes.

**"YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"**

Bruce held out an armored hand, repulsor at the ready.

"Secretary, technically…"

Tony, now fully the Hulk, snarled at him and reached for his throat as Bruce shot into the air. A giant green fist connected with the chest plate of the armor, sending Bruce flying through a metal work table. Banner was lifted off the table by the throat and Tony pulled his face very close to his until they were inches apart.

**"Fix this. **_**Now. **_**Get back to time machine."**

Bruce lifted up the visor, blood trickling down the corner of his mouth and let out a strangled chuckle.

"Y-You think that after having a taste of freedom I'd give it up just like that?"

He choked as Tony squeezed his throat, causing Bruce to feel small sharp pieces of metal to dig into his flesh.

**"YES!"**


End file.
